Doing Pelvic Floor Exercises While Pregnant

The pelvic floor consists of layers of muscles that stretch like a supportive hammock from the pubic bone in front to the end of the backbone spine.

Doing pelvic floor exercises while pregnant.

Hay smith et al 2008. If you strengthen your pelvic floor then you will be helping to prevent or reduce the severity of incontinence. Many factors can weaken your pelvic floor muscles including pregnancy childbirth surgery aging excessive straining from constipation or chronic coughing and being overweight. This loosening along with your growing baby pressing on your bladder may cause you to leak urine when you cough laugh sneeze or exercise.

Doing pelvic floor exercises will strengthen these muscles and. Exercise during pregnancy is a good way to keep yourself fit and prepare your body for labor as well as lower your risk of certain complications. What s more research has also suggested that women who do pelvic floor exercises may have a slightly shorter active phase of labor than other women. In this exercise the lower back and arms are involved and therefore it tones and strengthens the area.

But here s the good news. Pelvic floor exercises help to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor which come under great strain in pregnancy and childbirth. This can cause incontinence. Performing kegel exercises during pregnancy is an effective way to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and help prevent incontinence pelvic organ prolapse and assist with labor and delivery.

To do it lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Doing kegel exercises while emptying your bladder can actually lead to incomplete emptying of the bladder which increases the risk of a urinary tract infection. Pelaez et al 2013. Why pelvic floor exercises are important.

Kegel exercises are pelvic floor exercises. Relax the abs and pelvic floor exhale repeat. During pregnancy and after childbirth your pelvic floor muscles are lengthened and weakened. Pelvic floor exercises can also prevent prolapse which is where the pelvic organs drop down into the vagina hay smith and dumoulin 2006.

Study after study has shown that regularly doing kegels before during and after pregnancy can help decrease the odds of incontinence and other pelvic floor issues. Doing pelvic floor muscle exercises kegels from early pregnancy onwards can stop those accidental wees in late pregnancy and within six months of childbirth. This last pelvic floor exercise strengthens the muscles.